The Philadelphia School District has announced that all after-school activities have been canceled for Monday due to severe thunderstorms with possible tornadoes expected in the area:

Due to the inclement weather expected in the Philadelphia area, the School District of Philadelphia is canceling all after-school activities including all athletic programs scheduled for today, Monday, October 7.  All District early childhood centers and Out of School Time (OST) providers will remain open as per their regular schedule.

 The general public and media are urged to monitor the District website at www.philasd.org for any updates.  Updated information will also be posted on the District’s Information Hotline at 215-400-INFO (4636).

The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch for our area until 5 p.m. on Monday. Conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms with possible tornadoes. Hail and strong winds are also possible.

Police are investigating a multiple shooting that left one dead and several wounded at the intersection of 54th Street and Florence Avenue. Six young men, from 18 to 23 years old, were shot on Sunday, around 7 p.m. One person was killed and one critically injured, 6ABC reports. Four other victims are in stable condition. Police say that the young man who was killed lived on Florence Avenue, just a few blocks away from the scene of the shooting. He was shot multiple times in the back and chest, according to ABC. There were about 50 shell casings found at the scene.

Police said that it doesn’t appear to be a drive-by shooting, but a car was apparently involved. No other details are available at this time as the investigation continues.

Looped In, three social seating structures, popped up in Clark Park’s northern section earlier this week and will stay for a few weeks.

Clark Park was buzzing today, with several events taking place at the same time. Philly’s first Pétanque tournament was held in the circle of the northern section of the park. The tournament participants were trying to concentrate on their shots while the sounds from a kids’ concert, organized by the acclaimed Tune Up Philly afterschool program, and from Clark Park’s Farmers’ Market filled the air. The pétanque players also tried to avoid hitting new seating structures, called Looped In, which were installed in the circle a couple of days ago. Check out more photos below.

Local kids enrolled in the “Tune Up Philly” afterschool program performed on Saturday in Clark Park.

You can use the Looped In seating any way you like.

The 1st Philadelphia Petanque Tournament was held in Clark Park today, in the same circle where the Looped In structures were installed. The French game of boules is rapidly gaining popularity worldwide.

The Clark Park Farmer’s Market is every Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Photo by Michael Persico.

The news has spread like wild fire and we’re also happy to let our readers know – Philly’s homegrown fried chicken and donut shop Federal Donuts has set its eyes west of center and is expected to open a location at 3428 Sansom Street, which is on Penn’s campus. This will be the third location for this popular local chain. The somewhat bad news is that the new shop is not expected to open before early 2014. We’ll keep you posted on the date when we know more.

UPDATED 10/6/13 at 5:51 p.m. If you’re a runner and love a good challenge, there’s still time to register for the Third Annual Cobbs Creek 5k Run/Walk, taking place at 9 a.m. next Saturday, Oct 12.

Taking place now in the fall, the yearly Cobbs Creek race serves as a way to draw people—particularly locals—into the sprawling green space running along 63rd Street between City and Woodland Avenues. Overseen by the recently formed Friends of Cobbs Creek (Facebook page), Cobbs Creek Park features extensive hiking trails, full forests, a rambling creek and rushing waterfalls, and accessible recreational facilities such as basketball courts and playgrounds–all right within reach of even University City’s most eastern boundary. The park also offers children’s programming, like the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center, that will receive financial support from the registration fees, sponsorships and donations gathered from the run/walk.

“I don’t think a lot of people are aware of Cobbs Creek and it’s a shame. It’s really beautiful … It really feels like it’s part of your home,” said Alon Abramson, founder of West Philly Runners and member of Friends of Cobbs Creek. West Philly Runners is sponsoring the event along with Philadelphia Runner, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Philadelphia Water Department, and Fairmount Park Conservancy. “This is good opportunity to get more than just the people that live in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood to recognize this is within a few miles of us.”

In an effort to motivate more runners to register for the race and explore the park, West Philly Runners and Philadelphia Runner have organized a fun run for 9 a.m. this Sunday, Oct 6. The run will start at Philadelphia Runner’s University City location, 3621 Walnut Street and take participants to Cobbs Creek’s Education Center, 700 Cobbs Creek Parkway, for an informational session on the park. Brunch at Cedar Park Café is scheduled after the run.

Abramson theorizes that part of the reason fewer West Philadelphians east of 52^nd Street travel to Cobbs Creek Park is a deceptive perception of distance, assuming it’s much further from University City proper than it actually is. In fact, if 40^th and Market Streets is your starting point, you can traverse between less than two and a half to less than four miles depending on what section of the over 700-acre park you are visiting. And, depending on where you live in West Philly, traveling time to Cobbs Creek can take 5 – 20 minutes by car, 30 – 40 minutes by public transportation, or a 30 minute bike ride.

“As [part of] West Philly Runners, I’d love to get more runners … people to go that far west and people crossing the invisible divide,” Abramson told West Philly Local. “There’s a real racial boundary at 52nd Street that keeps people separated and segregated, so this is a great opportunity to cross that [border] and see that there’s a really safe, beautiful space. If we could get more people in there, it would be generally positive for the community.”

–Annamarya Scaccia

The activist group West Philly Food Not Bombs will start serving free food at Malcolm X Park every Friday, beginning today, according to their Facebook page. Some of our readers may know these folks as they used to provide free food to neighbors at the A-Space community center (Facebook page) on Baltimore Ave. The group said that free food, cooked and fresh, will be available every Friday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the park.
Tonight is the last summer jazz concert at Malcolm X Park and West Philly Food Not Bombs will be “off to the side serving food.” Huey Middle School students with the instructors and University of Pennsylvania interns will be helping out too.